AI-Driven Fleet Management

How AI-Based Recommendations Help Skilled Fleet Workers Excel

Artificial intelligence (AI) has slowly woven its way into many aspects of our modern lives. Just ten years ago, most of us relied on paper maps for directions, and we performed laborious internet searches to find a store or restaurant that had what we were looking for. Now we can simply pull out our phones or shout to our smart speakers to instantly get detailed, personalized recommendations.

Today, AI-based recommendation engines are bringing the same level of convenience, accuracy, and speed to the transportation and mobility industry, making the transport of goods and people more agile, more resilient – and safer. Given the rapid adoption of smart fleet management solutions powered by AI, Grand View Research estimates that this industry will be worth $565.1 billion by 2025.1

Whether the fleet is intercity trains, school or city buses, taxis, long-haul or short-haul trucks, or another mode, the challenges are similar: delays due to unexpected weather or road conditions, ineffective or unnecessary repairs, siloed data that prevents you from optimizing your fleet’s maintenance, and staff shortages due to an aging workforce, to name a few. Not only do these challenges increase the fleet’s operational costs, the delays they create can bring your fleet to a crawl.

PuttingAI in the passenger seat

With AI-based recommendations, skilled fleet drivers, operations and service managers, and mechanics can make better decisions and keep your fleet in the fast lane. By working alongside humans, AI provides employees with needed information and recommendations for action. When you put AI in the passenger seat, your workers can improve their performance and generate better outcomes. Here are some of the ways that AI can keep your fleet rolling:

Real-time Fleet Optimization

AI and predictive analytics give drivers real-time weather, traffic and road condition data and identify the fastest route to their destination. The same technologies can help operations managers refine fleet-wide dispatching, allowing them to analyze and improve fleet activities and to quickly adjust time and delivery of goods and people when unplanned events occur.

Faster, Targeted Repairs

AI-based internet of things (IoT), data analytics and predictive maintenance are transforming fleet vehicle repair. AI can anticipate an engine problem and report it before the driver notices that anything is amiss, providing recommendations for repairs and upkeep and optimizing the overall cost of maintenance. With predictive maintenance, recommendations can help service managers ensure that repairs are performed only when needed, not routinely, resulting in less downtime and lower operational costs – and that can translate to big savings. According to the latest industry estimates, predictive maintenance systems enabled by AI can increase asset productivity by 20% and reduce overall maintenance costs by 10%.2

Integrated operations across your fleet

With an integrated AI system in place, you can eliminate silos and seamlessly access the data you need across different areas of fleet operations, from planning to monitoring and maintenance. Not only does this improve your agility by giving your personnel the information to support good decisions in real time, it provides your enterprise with insights into operations altogether, clearing the road for end-to-end planning and optimization.

Optimized Equipment Usage, Logistics, and Safety

The predictive algorithms used by AI can detect operational issues and proactively identify problems with equipment, cargo or passengers, providing timely suggestions that operators can evaluate and act on to prevent unplanned downtime, injury or damage. AI can analyze routes and incorporate data to give drivers and pilots real-time alternative routes when dealing with unplanned events. In addition, new technologies such as video-based onboard safety monitoring systems use IoT and AI to help drivers make better decisions, preventing up to 63,000 crashes annually and making the road safer for everyone.3

Younger, tech-savvy workers

The need for automotive and diesel technicians is expected to grow by 45,9004 and 25,8005, respectively, between 2016 and 2026, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The American Trucking Association estimates that the U.S. will face a shortfall of 175,000 truck drivers by 2026.6 The industry is desperate for an influx of younger workers as older workers prepare to retire. AI can ameliorate the brain drain by capturing the skills and knowledge of long-time workers, including technologists and mechanics, before they retire, while providing new technologies that drive the younger generation to your door.

Managing Fleets isSmarter and Safer with AI

AI-driven fleet management is upon us – optimizing maintenance operations, speeding repairs, integrating operations – and empowering human decision-making. Like the old paper maps of the past, the old ways of operating fleets will soon be history. And organizations that incorporate AI-based solutions to support their skilled personnel will find smoother going on the road ahead.